As voters head to the polls for next Tuesday’s primary election, the majority of Midland County residents will be facing new voting equipment.

“The biggest reason we had to change (equipment) was based on the software. The old machine software was based on Windows XP, which Microsoft is no longer supporting. Those machines are no longer deemed secure without that support,” said Midland County Chief Deputy Clerk John Keefer.

The election equipment has already been tested during the 2017 November Special Election. The equipment turned out to be an excellent choice as the recount total was a perfect match to the original count.

"The results from the recount matched the results from the machinery perfectly," Keefer said at the time. "While this was only 20 percent of our precincts running, I feel this legitimizes the accuracy of the Dominion (voting) equipment and reinforces County Clerk Ann Manary's decision to choose this voting platform."

It is vital that voters remember they can only vote candidates from a single party. If voters select candidates from more than one party, their ballot will be returned. They will then have the choice to cast the ballot “as is” or may request a new ballot.

“If they cast it ‘as is’ it throws out the partisan offices. Then they are voting just for the proposals,” Keefer said.

As voters head to the polls between 7 a.m. and 8 p.m., each ballot will contain two differences. Gone will be the previous voting method of drawing a line between the head and tail of the arrow. Now, they will see an oval that must be completely darkened next to your choice.

The second change will be the addition of a column for the Libertarian Party in addition to a Republican and Democratic column.

“Usually, anything in the third column would be judges races or local stuff that anybody can vote on,” Keefer said. “Voters can only vote for one party. They can’t cross vote. I would say the number that cross vote is between 5 percent and 10 percent.”

Voters must also remember that campaign signs, T-shirts, buttons, stickers or any other endorsements of candidates are not allowed within 100 feet of a polling location.

Plus, voters may not wear any apparel, buttons or stickers that endorse a candidate into a polling location.

“That is considered campaigning and is prohibited,” Keefer said. “If people don’t want to follow that, the Michigan State Police can be called to forcibly remove the perpetrators.”